Thinking Outside the Box — Literally

By Christopher Shea

Just how potent is the metaphor “thinking outside the box”? To find out, researchers built a literal box out of PVC pipe and cardboard — 5′ cubed.

Roughly 100 test subjects were given a 10-question word-association test designed to measure one kind of creativity (sample item: What one word links “measure,” “worm,” “video”?). As they answered, participants sat inside the box, sat outside of it, or sat in a room sans box.

People sitting outside the box answered more questions correctly than either of the other two groups (and the difference couldn’t be explained by claustrophobia or confusion, both of which were measured). Creativity seemed to be spurred by the acting out of a familiar figure of speech, the researchers said. (The cover story for the experiment was that was exploring the effects of different work environments.)

In a variation on that experiment, people pondered creative puzzles while walking a rectangular path in a laboratory; freely departing from the path when they wanted; or while seated. Once again, people who walked “outside the box” had the most creative answers.

Hollywood is notoriously tough on older girls, but as Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon have proved, there is nothing at all to fear about becoming seasoned.
Sarandon, 65, has watched herself mature on the large screen for decades. Now starring alongside Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Judy Greer in this month's comedy "Jeff, Who Lives At House," the actress reveals what she's learned about aging gracefully in thebusin
"The point that I lastly told my daughter, which dawned on me at one particular point, was that you have to love your imperfections, because that is what tends to make you you," Sarandon says. "Not that I would be so eager to jump about with my clothes off at this point in my life, but understanding that your face is you, and whatever your anxieties are, do not take it out on your physique." This is not to say that she's opposed to cosmetic enhancements - inside reason.
If one particular goes that route, Sarandon says, "Try to preserve who you might be...You don't wish to appear like you are 20 when you are 60. That is why you've operate on what's on the inside, simply because that's what's going to produce the difference."

10:21 am January 28, 2012

Richard wrote :

Tape is the answer, tape measure, tape worm, video tape, further the experiment shows Beethoven had it right long ago as he was a great believer in walks to clear the mind and compose music